Stolen: The true life story of a human trafficking survivor

Katariina Rosenblatt shared her story of being a survivor of human trafficking at the Gingerbread House's annual Partners in Prevention luncheon.

(Lex Talamo/The Times)

Katariina Rosenblatt was first trafficked, at age 13, from a hotel room in Miami Dade County, Florida, where her mother had transported her and her siblings while fleeing from an abusive relationship with Rosenblatt's father.

"No one intervened when I was at home being abused by my dad," Rosenblatt said, "except for my mom, who took us to a hotel, only to find something worse. A trafficking ring looking to sell American children."

Katariina Rosenblatt's autobiographical account of being a survivor of human trafficking.

Katariina Rosenblatt's autobiographical account of being a survivor of human trafficking.

Rosenblatt shared her story of being trafficked by the ring and again by the father of a middle school friend at the Oct. 11 Gingerbread House's Partners in Prevention luncheon.

Every year the Gingerbread House, a nonprofit child advocacy center, honors those who advocate for children at its annual luncheon and brings in a keynote speaker with the hope to raise awareness about child sexual abuse in the Shreveport community and in the nation.

The luncheon had never before featured a survivor of human trafficking, facilitator Waynette Ballengee said.

"It does take courage because she could have lived the rest of her life without telling her story," Ballengee said. "Human trafficking isn't a topic that many might want to hear about, but the things she will talk about really do happen in Shreveport-Bossier, and we hope to raise awareness about what this is."

Human trafficking is a global term that encompasses both sex trafficking, in which individuals are forced to prostitute for their traffickers, as well as labor trafficking, in which individuals are exploited through the workforce.

Katariina Rosenblatt, left, shared her story of being a human trafficking survivor at the ...more

Katariina Rosenblatt, left, shared her story of being a human trafficking survivor at the Gingerbread House's annual luncheon.

Lex Talamo/The Times

Unlike many children, who are sold by their parents in what is known as "homegrown trafficking," Rosenblatt was targeted while playing at the pool area by a young girl named "Mary" who was under the influence of the trafficker running the ring from the hotel.

"She saw my vulnerability and my loneliness, and she took my hand in friendship," Rosenblatt said. "That was what her pimp had sent her to do."

The term 'pimp' describes an individual who arranges the sexual encounters between victims and clients. Pimps operate in a number of ways: sometimes using force, threats or violence to ensure compliance and other times using manipulation and trickery, Rosenblatt said.

"Mary" and the trafficker, an older man, convinced the teen that they were her friends through a month of "grooming" - a process usually involving compliments, gifts and bonding that build trust between trafficking and victims. The older man told Rosenblatt to call him "Daddy" - exploiting the "daddy hole" the young teen had in her life.

Rosenblatt said that after "about a month" of grooming, the traffickers then proceeded to sell her, a 13-year-old American virgin, to a 65-year-old man.

For $500.

Katariina Rosenblatt, left, answered questions about being a survivor of human trafficking posed by ...more

"At 13, I didn't understand, I didn't know what trafficking was. But he had ordered me up, just like a pizza," she said. "I didn't know I was for sale. But I was in a room and I heard them negotiating my price, from $500 to $550."

The traffickers and prospective client offered Rosenblatt marijuana. She refused. Her mother had told her to stay away from drugs, Rosenblatt said. The client then told Rosenblatt she was "pretty" and asked if anyone would miss her if she would disappear.

Rosenblatt said yes. Her mother loved her and would come looking for her.

"At that point, he kicked us out of the room. He said it was 'too risky,'" Rosenblatt remembered.

Following the botched deal, Rosenblatt said the traffickers tried to kidnap her. But she got away and called her mother from a payphone, and her mother rescued her.

A year later, the teen was targeted again— this time by the father of one of her middle school friends. The man took Rosenblatt and his own daughter to a brothel-like venue, where he proceeded to sell sex with them for $40 each to interested buyers.

"That's when I lost my self-esteem and my self worth," Rosenblatt said. "It doesn't take a lot to intimidate a 14 year old. I didn't tell. I was brought up not to tell. I already knew how this worked."

Rosenblatt said traffickers today frequently recruit children from the school system, as well as through children's social media accounts.

"There is no education in our school system about human trafficking," she said. "Every day we don't go out into the public schools and educate, someone is getting recruited."

Dealing with trauma and peer pressure, Rosenblatt disregarded her mother's warnings about drugs and started using cocaine and alcohol. Her mother moved her from the middle school where she was "having trouble."

But Rosenblatt, still a teen, was targeted again at the apartment complex where the family lived at the time. She again believed the traffickers were her friends — until an "awakening moment" when she realized they had sold her to a man who had AIDS.

The Gingerbread House, a local child advocacy center, held its annual Partners in Prevention ...more

The Gingerbread House, a local child advocacy center, held its annual Partners in Prevention luncheon on Wednesday.

Lex Talamo/The Times

"My heart had become hardened, and I had asked God to show up in a very real and tangible way," Rosenblatt said. "God showed up.I never had any infection or disease."

Traumatized by the encounter, Rosenblatt went to her mother. She didn't tell her mother all the details - but she told her enough.

The traffickers were kicked out of the apartment complex, and Rosenblatt started her journey toward healing.

She connected with individuals in the justice system who helped connect her with resources she needed for recovery. She went through years of therapy.

Rosenblatt went on to earn a bachelor's degree in management and her law degree from St. Thomas University in Florida. She also published the book Stolen, an autobiographical account of her journey into and out of the sex trafficking world.

"God works in mysterious ways," she said. "Sometimes I want to cry because I had to live through it first so that I could go and stand up for other kids and be that voice."

Jessica Milan Miller, executive director of the nonprofit, said the award was named to honor those who act as "guardian angels," whose role in faith-based religions is to "protect and guide a particular person from danger or error."

The award is given to a single individual each year who "goes above and beyond" to help protect children in the community and specifically recognizes those who "bring justice, hold those who hurt children accountable for their actions, someone not afraid to look danger in the face yet remains steadfast in the conviction to press forth and do what's right," Milan said.

"This year's recipient of the Guardian Angel Award has been fighting on behalf of those who have been hurt or wronged for almost 40 years as a law enforcement officer," Milan Miller said, in introducing Prator. "He has been an advocate for the Gingerbread House and the children we serve since Day One."

Milan Miller said the sheriff's investigators have participated in every multidisciplinary team meeting she could remember for the past 14 years, "so that children who have been hurt receive the help they deserve."

She said Prator's response, when the Gingerbread House asks for help, has always been, "Let's do it for the kids," and said it was "no surprise" Prator was recently elected to the Louisiana Law Enforcement Hall of Fame.

Prator, in accepting his award, said he was doing so on behalf of his team and others who work with the sheriff's office - all of whom he credited for the department's success.

"I certainly appreciate this," Prator said. "I accept this for all the detectives and everybody who has something to do with helping these kids, from the time that something is called in and it's carried through all the way to the Gingerbread (House) and the courts, the prosecutors, everyone is involved with this."

Milan Miller also shared the Gingerbread House's progress over the years - including going from a less than 5 percent successful prosecution rate for children who alleged sexual abuse to a rate of more than 97 percent.

"It's all because a group of committed citizens vowed to make a change for children," Milan Miller told those at the luncheon. "Never doubt that you can make a difference."